Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Knight of the Crystal Empire

"They can handle it..." Sunny said out loud, heading to the exit. "I'm not a guardian of Equestria anymore. I'm just a simple farm pony... who... who needs to let the real guardians protect Equestria... while he drowns his feelings in a chocolate protein shake.... again..."

Head hanging low, Sunny shut the door behind him as he left the throne room behind and made his way back into town, heart conflicted but mind settled. Walking out of the crystal tree like castle, Sunny looked to the sky and sighed heavily, again. His heart felt heavy as he treaded down the dirt road and into town. 'Maybe I just need to occupy my time like Twilight said. You know, see what my friends were up to.'

Thinking to first drop in on Thunder Lane, Sunny made his way to the pegasus's house in Ponyville. Although Rainbow Dash and a few other Pegasi chose up live in cloud based homes that floated freely in the air, Fluttershy, Thunder Lane and several others chose to live in ones that were securely built on the ground. Not that having a house on a cloud would be a bad thing, it would just make it difficult to have guests over who weren't pegusi. Sure there was a spell one could cast to walk on clouds, but not every pony knew that spell. That included Sunny. Which made the yellow unicorn very great full that his grey Pegasus freeing lived on the ground. But as Sunny approached Thunder Lane's ground based home, he paused as he saw his friend outside talking with somepony.

It wasn't just anypony from town the weather factory worker was talking to, it was Thunder Lane's special somepony, Flitter. After the incident with Lightning Dust and the tornado, Thunder Lane and her where together most of the time. Probably still in what Granny called the 'puppy love phase'. Either way, it brought a small smile to Sunny's face to see the two talking and laughing. But his smile faded away as the yellow unicorn watched Thunder Lane and Flitter enter into the house together.

"I shouldn't disturb them..." Sunny said, down trotted, ears and head hanging low. "Maybe I'll go see what Octavia is up too!"

Feeling a sense of rejuvenated bravado, Sunny galloped towards the northern edge of town where Octavia shared a home with her best friend. Although he had never met her, Octavia told Sunny all about her musical best friend named Vynal Scratch. But most ponies around town got used to calling the white unicorn with an electric blue two toned mane by her stage name of DJ-PON3. Sunny didn't quite understand the lingo, but went along with it.

Walking up a half cobble stone half dirt road, Sunny eventually found himself standing in front of a house that looked like it was stapled together from two halves of different houses. One side looked like the rest of the houses in town, but the other had more of a modern look to it. Like something one could find in Canterlot. Sunny paused at the front door and straitened his Stetson hat before knocking on the door. After knocking three times, he eagerly waited for his musicaly gifted friend. Maybe he could listen to her practice. He had missed her performance at the talent show, and really, really wanted to hear her play.

After several moments, Sunny knocked again, not wanting to be rude but at the same time he didn't want to just stand there like an lawn ornament. While he waited, a thought came to the yellow unicorn. Maybe he could get Doctor to use his time machine to take Sunny back to the night of the talent show so he can watch the performance. That shouldn't mess with the time line, right?

After several more moments, Sunny proceeded to knock on the front door again, this time somepony actually answered. She must have been the famous DJ everypony in town talked about. Her mane was messed up and frizzy, like she had just rolled out of bed, her glasses were lopsided like she must have fallen asleep with them on, and as she looked up at Sunny, the tired DJ wiped some drool from her left cheek.

"Ugh... is Octavia home?" Sunny asked, his voice a little more then shaky from the awkward sight, even though Vynal seemed to care less.

Straitening her thick sunglasses, the white unicorn DJ reached behind her and grabbed a note that was at one time neatly folded but had suffered some wrinkles. After handing the note to Sunny, Vynal slammed the door and proceeded to go back to sleep. Sunny was slightly taken back by the whole situation, but decided to turn his attention towards the note's contents.

'To who it may concern,

I, Octavia, have been called away to Canterlot. It appears that my mother has come down with the flu and I will be gone free a week at the very least to nurse her back to health. If there is an emergency, I may be contacted at the address on the other side of this letter. Terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

Sincerely, Octavia Melody

PS; I'm am also sorry if my room mate also happened to appear a mess upon delivering this letter, or if she had crumpled it up, and possibly left any food debris on it.'

Sight heavily once more, Sunny decided to fold the letter up and place in the crack of the door to inform anypony else of Octavia's location. That, and it would probably be better for the next pony to visit to not disturb Octavia's tired looking room mate. As he folded the note into thirds and moved to stick it in the door crack, Sunny pulled his hoof away to find something sticky like syrep or jelly sticking his hoof to said letter.

Granny was relaxing back at the farm, just rocking back and forth in her chair on the porch, listening to the gentle sound of the wind as it blows through the leaves of the Apple trees. It reminds her of the days when she and her husband would lay on the grass in the clearing, basking in the warm sun, taking a break from Apple bucking. Back then the orchard was much smaller. But just like her family, it grew and expanded.

Granny was just about to drift off into that dream where she was young again, being romanced by her husband for the first time, when a small, almost silent thump shook the elderly mare awake. Her eyes flickered open and looked around, eventually landing on a glum looking yellow unicorn who's head was held in his hooves as he sat on the front steps of the farm house.

"Eha, Sunny? Is that you?" Granny asked, knowing it was him, but more or less just said it to catch his attention.

The yellow unicorn's ears flickered and he turned his head to look over at Granny who was no longer napping. "Oh, sorry Granny. I didn't mean to wake you."

"What's got you all down?" Granny asked as she used all of her might to pull herself out of her rocking chair. "You look more sad then Winona when a beaver ran away with her bone."

Sunny sighed heavily as he took off his Stetson hat just as Granny took a seat beside him and put a gentle old hoof on his back. "I... I'm stuck in a hard place, Granny... and as much as I'd like to, I can't tell you exactly what it is..."

"Ya know ya can talk to me about anythin'" Granny cooed, her gentle eyes studying Sunny, thinking he reminded her so much of her own grandkids. One has a problem, and they can come to her for advice. "Why don't ya try and use an example. Like, instead of sayin 'ah spit in th' orange juice', say 'ah friend of mine spit in th' orange juice'. Ya get what ah'm sayin'?"

It started slowly, but Granny's words started to turn the gears in Sunny's head. He thought for a moment how to word it all so he could keep his identity and true conflict a secret. After piecing it all together, Sunny took a deep breath and began to 'explain'. "Let's say Big Mac was put in charge of the south orchard when he was very young."

"Ok" Granny smiled and listened intently to the tale the yellow unicorn began to weave.

"And he took care of it really well..." Sunny continued, choosing his words carefully. "But years down the road, he forgot to get seeds for the orchard, and had to go away for a while to get them. Well, Applejack came along and saw the south orchard needed to be taken care of, so she began watering it, clearing the debris, dealing with varmints that tried to snag a free mean, and th' what not. She eventually got the south orchard up and running better then Big Mac ever did."

"Ah'm followin' ya so far" Granny commented, thinking how funny it was that Sunny had gotten so used to life on the farm that he now was using it in his analogies, along with using some of their own lingo.

"Well, now let's say Big Mac came back after he got the seeds and saw how good of a job his sister was doing with the south orchard" Sunny continued, now actually getting to the root of the problem. "With her dealing with the south orchard, and it being better then ever, Big Mac goes on to work on other things. Maybe as little of things like just cleaning out the barn, or repainting the fences. Things that anypony can do...." Sunny paused for a moment trying to gather his thoughts, going over what w was saying to make sure everything he was saying made sense.

"Ah see..." Granny said as she rubbed under her chin. "And does 'Big Mac' miss working in the south orchard?"

"I... I guess he does" Sunny commented, head hanging low once again. "But Applejack does it so much better, and Big Mac already failed to protect, ugh, I mean, take care of the orchard."

"Well, way ah see it, one pony taking care of ah whole orchard is ah mighty tall task." Granny used her hoof to lift Sunny's head up and out of the gutters. "Maybe he just needed ah little help before. And maybe Applejack might need some help now. Ponies can be strong, but they're stronger when they work together. Take Applejack for example.

"Not long ago, she actually tried ta harvest all the orchard's apples bah herself" Granny continued, remembering back to that time a few winters ago. "She was pushin' herself mighty hard and wasn' gunna get the job don't in time. Well, 'least not in her own. Her friends came and offered help. She didn't want to at first, but she finally saw that sometimes a pony needs to run in a herd."

Sunny had read about that same even in the copy of 'the elements of harmony' that Twilight leant him. It was a real lesson learned. But did it apply here. "But... let's say the orchard was being cared for by Applejack and her friends, not just Applejack alone. What should Big Mac do? Should he just continue to do the little jobs? Those ones he can't mess up on? Or should he go help with another orchard? I-I mean, he is very confused..."

"Sounds to me like he's more 'fraid of making a mistake" Granny commented, looking into Sunny with a worried look. "But Big Mac shouldn't be afraid of doing somethin' 'cause he's 'fraid he'll make a mistake. He should listen to what his heart tells him. Weather it's to let Applejack and her friends work on the south orchard alone or to aid them. Maybe even a middle ground and just have him keep an eye on it. Ya know. Maybe Big Mac could over look the orchard and help out if he's needed. But never stop bein' who he is or stop doin' what he needs ta do. If Big Mac was workin' th' orchard and doin' it well, well, even if ah' didn' know him personally, ah'd still say it was ah part ah him. Maybe even ah' part of him he shouldn't try and forget or run away from. Other wise, it's like leaven ah part of ourselves behind."

Sunny looked into the old eyes of Granny Smith and saw just how wise she actually was. Yes she may occasionally think Crackers is a weasel out to attack the hen house, but she's also full of wisdom and great and directing ponies down the right path. A smile grew from Sunny's former frown as he threw his hooves around the elderly green mare. "Thank you Granny... ah think ah need ya go deal with somethin'."

The elderly farm mare smiled and returned Sunny's hug, patting him on the back as she told him "You do what yer heart tells ya. We'll always be here for ya. And ifin' ya ever feel like talkin' bout them things that bother ya, Granny's alway her."

Reluctantly, Sunny broke the hug, straitened himself out, and maneuvered his hat on his head so it would stay on as he made a mad dash, running faster then he ever had. He would need to make up for lost time, not knowing if Applejack and the others even boarded the train yet or not. But he would need to hop on the next train heading to the Crystal Empire. Before he left though, he looked back any Granny who just smiled as she wobbled back to her rocker. A green aura appeared around Sunny's horn then around a near by quilt. The quilt floated over and landed right on Granny's lap.

The elderly pony smiled at the kind unicorn. "Thank ya, Sunny. Now go tend to yer orchard."

"Will do Granny." The yellow stallion said with a tip of his hat. "If ah ain't back bah supper, don't worry none. Ah might take ah wile. But ah will be back."

Without another word, Sunny zoomed off of the porch and down the dirt road. At a point, he would need to turn and cross part of the orchard as a short cut into the Everfree forest to the mountain where he hid his belongings. Granny's eyes started to feel heavier and heavier as she gently rocked back and forth with the flow of the wind.

"Yep... funny colt... gunna make me some funny great... grand... babies..." Granny said to herself, a smile on her muzzle as she thought of more Apple foals roaming the farm house again.

Running with all his might, weave in and out of the way of trees, breaking through and snapping branches in his way, Sunny thought to himself that he had to find an easier way to get to his hiding spot.
When he paused for a moment to catch his breath, wishing he had all of his strength back already, Sunny's ears caught the sound of familiar voices, and thought it best to duck and hide. The yellow unicorn was close to the hidden cave and didn't want anypony asking why he was out here in the dangerous, monster filled forest.

"...like I said, it's not as bad as I though." Twilight's voice reached Sunny's ears, causing them to twitch. "I can handle taking her to the Ponyville hospital if you two want to go ahead and help Rarity and the others with packing."

"Are you sure?" Fluttershy's faint voice sounded very close, and that's saying something if one could hear her timid tone. "We don't mind helping you get here there safely."

It was then that Sunny realized just how close their path had been to him. About two feet away to be precise. If the yellow unicorn had not ducked into a nearby bush, he would have met them face to face. Even when Sunny felt he could relax slightly, a set of four pink hooves hitting the ground nearly caused him to jump out of his skin. Luckily, he knew the pony who the hooves belonged too, and knew that this was just a fragment of her usual movement. Not long after the hooves hit the ground did they take to the air again as Pinkie continued hopping behind her friends.

"Yeah, I should probably feed Gummy before we leave. He gets super hungry if I don't leave him a plate of cupcakes to much on while I'm gone!" Pinkie Pie explained as Midnight Blossom followed behind her.

"I need to check in with Cloud Skipper" the bat pony guard told Twilight. "Will you be ok if I leave the rest up to you and your friends, your highness?"

"We'll be just fine, you are dismissed Midnight. Thank you again for all your help." Twilight smiled and motioned to the bat pony guard. "I hope everything works out."

"You might need that luck for yourself, your majesty" Midnight said as she kicked up her flapping speed and took to higher ground. "I shall send word upon arrival!"

After watching the Royal guard fly off, the girls continued their journey back into town to take poor Zecora to the hospital and to prepare for their quest.

From where Sunny was hiding, he could see the Zebra wrapped in Twilight's purple magical aura, floating right in front of the alicorn casting the spell. Sunny wondered for a moment what could have happened to her, and wished he could help. But right now there was something else he had to do.

After rushing into his secret cave, Sunny immediately grabbed the black knight armor from it's hiding spot. After dumping the contents of his lavender bag onto the ground, Sunny tossed the back armor, and a black cloak he had from his days as a prince, into two swirling whirlwind produced by the bag. After the armor and cloak were sucked securely into the small magical bag, Sunny grabbed enough bits for a round-a-bout trip too and from the Crystal Empire, then ran out the cave's entrance. He was in such a hurry that the stallion almost forgot to close it up all the way and hide the entrance. After taking a moment more to hide the cave properly, Sunny double checked that he had the money and the lavavender bag tucked away in his Stetson hat before galloping as fast as he could through the Everfree forest.

Taking a short cut, Sunny was barely able to make it to the station before Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Spike showed up. Sunny quickly grabbed his ticket and boarded the train. As the yellow unicorn got on the train, he took note of a cart that had sentries stationed at the doors. They both had dyed their coats purple, and sported crystal armor. It was obviously going to be the car that the girls would be traveling in.

'Cadence and Shinning Armor really spared no expense' Sunny thought. 'I better stick close by, but just out of sight. That way when the girls act, I can be close by. Remember, Sunny, you are just here incase something goes wrong. Otherwise, stay out of it.' Sunny nodded to himself as re spoke in his mind, earning him some confused looks from several ponies who watched him just stand there and nod.

But before the yellow unicorn could figure out how best to execute his plan, he caught sight of the girls boarding the train, and were heading his way! Panicking slightly, with no where else to go, Sunny turned to the prestigious car sent to specifically pick up and transport Applejack and her friends. Thinking back to the last time he was at the Crystal Empire, Sunny remembered how the guard's still obeyed his commands. His only hope was that it wasn't a fluke, and that these guards still subconsciously remembered him. Not enough to recognize him as the Prince, but enough to where they still obeyed his word when given orders.

"I need to get through here" Sunny approached the two guards, a firm look on his muzzle.

"Sorry, only Princess Twilight, her friends, and dragon assistant may enter." One sentry said, face and tone deadpan.

Sunny hesitated a moment before shooting both of the guard's a harder, more demanding look as he order them once more. "Let me pass though this cart. That is an order."

The guard's shivered a moment, hesitated, but eventually kneeled and allowed Sunny to pass into the royal cart. Keeping his cool and casually walking inside, Sunny dismissed the two sentries at the one door, only to instantly panic once the door was shut. "Now what do I do?! I need to go out the other way, but there'll probably be guard's there too! Ugh!"

"What was that?" A younger and higher pitched voice said from the side of the train car that Sunny needed to get through. "I'm going to check it out. Watch my back."

Panicking, Sunny looked all around the cart for a place to hide. He was too big to hide under the seats, the over head cargo holding area was just an open rack and too low to not be noticed, he could try and stick in the corner closest to the door behind where the door opened, but as soon as the young guard closed the door, Sunny would still have no where else to hide! Without a second thought, or any other choice, Sunny dove underneath a cloth covered table right as the guard entered the room.

The young guard was an off color lightish brown pegasus with a two toned blue mane. He was one of the newest recruits to the Crystal army, and not a crystal pony by birth. But Flash Sentry always tackled his duties with a seriousness that rivaled any senior officer. Which is why, although most guards might disregard some strange noises from the royal train car, Flash refused to ignore a possible treat.

Sunny watched from underneath the table as the Pegasus walked slowly in front of the table, probably examining every detail of the train car for anything out of the ordinary. Sunny kept silently hoping that the guard would just turn around and leave. And as Flash reached the far end of the car, he turned around and began walking back at a slightly faster pace, feeling that there might not have been any danger at all, and it was just his imagination. But just as Sunny felt he could relax, Flash's hoof steps paused suddenly. Looking where the guard had stopped, Sunny's eyes went wide and his heart jumped right into his throat. On the ground in front of Flash was Sunny's train ticket!

"How did this get here?" Flash said out loud as he picked up the ticket and examined it.

'Oh Buck! How am I going to explain this?!' Sunny screamed in his head as he began trying to think of a possible way to explain why he had been captured by the Crystal guard for sneaking into Applejack and her friends' private train car! Or even worse! How he got past the first set of Royal guards?!

"Excuse me sir" a feminine voice called out, followed by the sound of squeaking wheels. Sunny looked up and saw the hooves of a second pony as well as a food cart enter the train car. "I have to prepare the dinning table for the princess and her guests."

"Oh, ugh, y-yes ma'am, go right ahead." Flash said as he began to walk out of the car.

This was Sunny's opertinity! Without hesitation, Sunny waited until the mare had her back turned, then snuck underneath her food car, making sure that his tail was securely tucked away. Not long after he made the jump did Flash have a second thought and go back to check out the spot underneath the table. But when he did, there was nopony to be found, and Sunny was safely being carted away. And not a moment too soon. Right after the food cart left, Sunny could hear the muffled voices of Applejack and her friends.

Once the cart stopped in the train car over, Sunny peaked around outside, then slipped out, doing his best to nonchalantly slip into a seat. He casually looked around and noticed nopony else had been in the car, so he released his held breath and began to relax.

"Smooth moves you got there" a mare's voice nearly sent Sunny into cardiac arrest.

The yellow stallion flipped around to lock eyes with a half relaxed, half annoyed looking mare. She looked questioningly studied Sunny with her purple eyes as she brushed her purple and teal mane out of her eyes. "So is that how you normally get around, or did you lose your ticket?"

Straitening himself up and repositioning his Stetson hat, Sunny took a seat across from the amused pink mare. "Honestly, I'm kinda avoiding a few ponies and saw that as my window of opportunity. I payed for a ticket, honestly."

"Hey, I'm not the conductor. You don't have to convince me" the mare said as she waved a hoof. "Now if you don't mind, could you keep it down! I need to do some work."

"Yeah, sorry" Sunny said as he took a deep breath and began to relax, enjoying the ride while he could. Although a little rocky to start out, things were beginning to fall back into place. All Sunny needed to do was wait for the area outside to change to the snowy Arctic that surrounded the Crystal Empire, then he would make his way to the bathroom to set his plan into motion.

"Ugh! No! No! No!" The mare across from Sunny grew frustrated before she threw a few wadded up pieces of paper into the air and zapped them into ash.

"Ugh, you ok?" Sunny asked, wondering if that was a good idea to speak up.

"No! I am not ok! I am far from ok!" She snapped, speaking almost through her teeth.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Sunny asked, half concerned, and half thinking he should probably excuse himself to the bathroom now.

"Not like you can help" the mare spat as her volume decreased, but the tone remained just as hard, her eyes glaring away from Sunny and out the window.

"Well... maybe I can" Sunny stretched out his neck as he pulled his hat back a little. "Why don't cha talk ta me about it? What's th' matter?"

The pink unicorn mare huffed, sighed, then after a moment, reluctantly turned and faced Sunny. "Some stupid pony and her stupid friends came into my town, that I rescued and rebuilt from the ground up, then turned my friends against me! If that wasn't bad enough, she even got them to chase me out of town! For years I worked to get that place to run perfectly! Then she comes and messed everything up! Ugh! I wish I could just make her and her stupid friends disappear!"

Sunny gulped as he listens to the pink unicorn mare go on about how some other pony basically destroyed her life. He took it all in for a moment, then an idea popped into his head. "I know just the pony who can help you!"

After rubbing her eyes aggressively, the pink mare with the purple and teal mane looked up, her blood shot eyes locked into the yellow stallions. "Oh? And who would that be?"

"Well, Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of friendship" Sunny smiled as he started to make his suggestion. "She lives down in Ponyville, in a castle just west of town."

The mare stopped rubbing her temples in frustration and paused for a moment. A smile cracked on we face as she narrowed her eyes on Sunny. "You don't say? And she live there... in the castle...with her friends?"

"Actually, it's just her and her assistant" Sunny noted. "But all her friends live in town, not far from there. I'm sure somepony will be around to help, if Twilight isn't back there to talk to you. They solve friendship problems all the time. I'm sure they can help you make up with your friends."

The mare continued to smile as the gears began turning in her head. "That's good to know. Ugh, and what if I, perhaps, wanted to speak with only the princess. Since she is the 'princess of friendship' and all. Not that I don't think any of her friends could do it. But this is a really big problem. Could I maybe wait for her in the castle? Or won't the guards let me in?"

"I don't think Twilight has guards stationed at her castle" Sunny thought out loud. "And besides, Twilight always leaves the castle open during regular business hours so ponies who need to access the library can feel free to help themselves. After a run in with this centaur guy, the Ponyville library kinda blew up. So Twilight dedicated her library to the town. Though I'm sure she'll have another one built at some point. But she was really attached to it. It was her home when she first moved to Ponyville."

"Wow! That is just so fascinating!" The purple unicorn mare said with a sugary sweet smile. "I can't wait to see her! I'm going to go over and see her right after I make a little stop at Canterlot. Thank you so much for all your help, ugh...."

"Sunny, Sunny Knight. But mah friends just call me Sunny, miss... ah'm sorry, ah didn't quite catcher yer name." Sunny said, forcing a smile at the awkward situation.

The mare looked disheveled for a moment before gathering herself and answering in a clear and calm tone. "Why I'm Twinkle, ugh, Shine! Yes! Twinkle Shine!"

"A pleasure, Twinkle" Sunny said as he reached out and hook hooves gently. But at that moment, out of the corner of his eye, Sunny noticed the background seemed to change from Rocky Mountains to a snowy mountain scene. "Oh! I, ugh, have to go use the bathroom! B-but I wish you the best of luck Twinkle! Remember, Ponyville, west, castle. Bye!"

Sunny dashed out of the train cart to hop into another to change into his armor, leaving the mare behind to plot, scheme, and monologue in peace. Which is something every villain seems to do whenever they are alone.

"Well, princess Twilight, I hope you're ready for somepony to come into your cushy home and destroy everything you worked for! I'm going to ruin your life like you ruined mine! You shouldnt have messed with Starlight Glimmer!" Twinkle chuckled, exposing her real name.Starlight then spent the next couple of hours planning her next moves while danger waited right outside the window.

Sunny moved as swiftly as he could over a few train cars, looking desperately for a bathroom. He asked ponies he came across if they knew where one was. The ponies he asked either had no idea or tried to direct him back to the first car he just came from. Eventually, Sunny was approached by the conductor of the train, an older looking earth-pony stallion, with a large mustache.

"Excuse me, sir, but can I help you?" The conductor asked Sunny.

"I really need to find a bathroom, and quick!" Sunny said, making it appear that he was in desperate need of some relief.

"Calm down there, it's this way, I'll show you" the conductor then led Sunny down the way past a dining car, and further away from Twilight's royal car, eventually leading the yellow stallion to a single stall bathroom.

Although the area was cramped, Sunny still needed to use it change into his suit of armor and conseal himself in the black cloak he had brought. He had no idea why, but along with all his personal treasures, books, pictures and suits of armor, Sunny had about a dozen or so black cloaks. And he couldn't remember why he would ever need so many, but in this case, the largest one came in handy. Ponies might stare at him a bit, but as long as Sunny kept his head revealed, he should be fine. Relictantly, Sunny would have to take his Stetson hat that he had grown so fondly of, off. There would be no time to shuffle to get it into the lavender bag if he needed to step in. The helmet alone he would have to hide awkwardly underneath his cloak. But as the former prince of the Crystal Empire struggled to fit on the back leg parts of his armor, he heard a click from the bathroom door. Sunny then fell out of the train's small bathroom and landed right at the hooves of the conductor.

"Ugh... what's going on here?" The conductor asked as she scratched the side of his head, shooting Sunny a puzzled look.

"Ugh... I can explain... its, ugh... a jousting costume! Yeah! For ... the Crystal fair?" Sunny gave the conductor his most modest smile, but by the look in the conductor's eye, he wasn't convinced.

"And why was it so important to change in the bathroom and cause a ruckus on my train?" The middle aged earth pony asked. "And why do you have to change here? Don't you have a booth on your train car you can do this at?...let me see your ticket, please. I don't think Ive punched it yet."

Sunny's heart dropped and his breathing started to increase, which, with the armor on, made in harder for him to calm himself down. But Sunny did his best to appear casual. After straitening himself out, and pretending to flick imaginary dust off of himself, Sunny simply smiled and began to look around in his cloak and suit of armor for the ticket that he knew he dropped a couple of cars back.

"Oh... ugh, I seem to have misplaced it" Sunny shot the conductor another awkward smile. "Ugh... could I buy a new one?"

"Sure you can. That will be five bits for a regular seat, 15 for a private car if you want" the conductor informed Sunny, his tone mellowing out.

"A private one would be preferred..." Sunny commented as he began rustling around for his lavender bag to retrieve the equestrian currency from, but froze. 'Oh zap apples! I didn't bring any spare bits!'

Sunny gulp as he realized his blunder. Watching the yellow stallion react this way and freezing as he did, the conductor sighed. "Listen kid, I can't let anypony ride for free. That's my paycheck riding on this train. Granted, one or two ponies a trip isn't bad. But if I start letting ponies ride for free, soon they'll tell their friends and their friends will tell their friends, and before I know it, the crew and I can't eat. Now I'm gunna have to take you to the Royal guards on car 2."

"What?! Why?!" Sunny's anxiety began to shoot through the roof.

"It's policy" the conductor continued. "Anypony caught without paying for their ticket, aka, stow-a-ways, are to be taken to the Royal guard's train in car 2. That way the train can be reimbursed for the losses fair."

"B-but doesn't that seem a little extreme?!" Sunny began to panic. The last thing he needed to do was get arrested. Getting desperate, the yellow unicorn tried to pull at the conductor's heart strings. "Please, I have a family waiting for me! I can't go to jail!"

"You won't go to jail" the conductor smiled nervously at the frantic stallion before him. "You'll just he brought before a princess and given a warning not to do it again. Technicalities, you know. It's really all a scare tactic."

That wasn't good enough for Sunny in his situation. Having to go before the princesses would mean more then just facing a charge of sneaking abroad a train. If the princesses knew the son of King Sombra was walking around, they might keep him there for questioning and then everypony would know who he is! Twilight, Octavia, Thunder Lane, Big Mac.... and... and Applejack. Applejack would know who Sunny really was! The son of one of their darkest enemies! She and the other Apples would surely turn their back on him! Cast him out!... he'd be without a home again... or friends... or anything ...

The fear began to build up as a black and purple bubbling magical aura coated the yellow unicorn's horn. "I'm sorry... but I can't let that happen... I'm so sorry..."

The conductor didn't have time to react before he was hit with a black, purple, and green magical blast. When the site cleared and the conductor could once again be seen by Sunny, the Yellow stallion did his best not to look the conductor in the eye, ashamed of what he had done. The middle aged earth pony's eyes had turned solid green as all thought and free will had become suppressed. The conductor had a servitude curse cast on him. A spell Sunny had learned from his father's books. One he swore he would never use except as a last resort.

"You will obey my command for the time being" Sunny told the zombified conductor, forcing himself to look upon the elderly stallion. "Is that understood?"

The conductor bowed, eyes still solid green as some saliva began to run down from his open mouth. "Yes, your majesty."

"Don't call me that..." Sunny gave his first order. The word 'majesty' stung coming from a pony with no will of his own at the moment. "Tell me, what car can I be taken too were nopony would see or hear me? And where I can exit the train without the other passengers seeing me?"

"The baggage cart, sir..." the conductor answered as more drool dripped down the left side of his open mouth.

"You will take me there, now" Sunny said as he finished checking over his armor, making sure it was all secure and placed in properly before they went on their way.

"I obey..." the conductor said as he began leading Sunny from the current car they were in down the way to the cargo car.

As they passed through the three cars to get to their destination, several pairs of curious eyes fell upon Sunny and the conductor, but luckily, more on Sunny. The yellow unicorn could deal with ponies wondering why somepony was draped in a long black cloak and clanking like pots and pans, rather then they notice the conductor being totally out of it and leaving a trail of drool behind. As the two stallions arrived at the cargo car, Sunny surveyed the area, making sure nopony was around. He didn't think he could pull off the same spell again if anypony else walked in on him. Dark magic was very taxing on the mind and nerves and could only be performed properly by a small group of ponies. Sunny wasn't proud of the fact that he could use it, and even less proud to use it on innocent ponies, but he had to do what he had to do.

After giving the train car a good look down, Sunny approached the conductor who was still under the servitude curse. Pausing, Sunny looked at the poor stallion he had used that dark spell on. Guilt began to bubble with in the yellow pony's heart, but was pushed aside. "I order you to forget that you ever saw me. Go back to what you were doing before you ran into me. And get yourself a snack and something to drink. Take a break to relax. You work hard, you deserve a break every now and again."

"Yes sir" the still Zombified Conductor saluted Sunny then turned around to leave the cargo car.

Once the middle aged earth pony was outside the cargo car and started to pick up where he left off, the curse lifted, freeing the conductor from the spell's effects. The stallion stretched and yawned, right before he got the subconscious urge to sit down with a cup of hot chocolate and a few blue berry scones. The urge was too strong for the stallion to resist. And the conductor decided he deserved the break. He thought how hard he had been working all day, so hard, that he forgot what he was doing or how he had gotten to that part of the train in the first place.

Guilt continued to fill the yellow unicorn's heart, having used black magic when possibly it could have been avoided. That same magic might have been what caused his father to change into the cruel tyrant Sunny last met. The books warn of corrupting side effects, much like the alicorn amulet. But Sunny felt nothing, nothing except the guilt of bending a pony's will to his own. In the past, Sunny had given orders to the guards, but that was his place to. And it was theirs to follow. Granted, if they ever wished, they could have chosen not to, they still had that. But with this magic, this corrupting dark magic, it felt so terrible...

The train began to come to a screeching halt, causing Sunny to lose his footing, and fall into a pile of coal. Struggling to get out of it, coughing the entire time from the black dust the coal seemed to cover him with. Eventually, the former prince was able to pull himself out of the pile of coal and ready himself for the worst.

Placing three small crystals in the ground in front of him, a blue, a pink, and a green, then tracing a circle to connect them, Sunny ensured that he would have an escape rout. It was an old crystal pony trick that must have long been forgotten. But Crystal ponies could use these small multicolor crystals to teleport from one point to another without the use of magic, simply by creating the same set up in two different places then by crushing the green crystal to activate the power of the pink and blue crystals. But since unicorns can just cast a teleportation spell, and the fact that these crystals are rare and expensive, the trick had long since been forgotten.
Sunny still felt weak, and was amazed he could cast that curse with ease, but a teleportation spell to carry him quickly away from Applejack and her friends would be impossible. This is actually more perfect, the more Sunny thought about it. If he has to deal with Garganda, he can simply teleport back onto the moving train, traveling further and further away from Applejack, Twilight and the rest. The last thing he needed was a million and one questions from the girls, who, could either potentially recognize him or put two and two together. For the sake of his new life, Sunny couldn't let that happen.

As the train began to pick up speed again, it was now or never for 'the Black Knight'. Dawning his black helmet after applying a face mask to further hide his identity, Sunny opened the car door and jumped into the snow just as the train began moving again. Lucky for Sunny, his landing was cushioned by the surrounding snow. Unlucky for him, he hated the cold! Shivering like crazy, Sunny stuck his head out of the small mound of snow he had landed in and peaked around. He could see in the distance the girls speaking with Shinning armor and Cadence, making him glad he didn't go with them even if he wasn't hiding who he was.

'I know they're not bad ponies' Sunny started telling himself. 'I'm sure they're really nice once you get to know them... maybe I should try after all of this blows over. Maybe this will be the last time the Black Knight has to show up. But I guess we'll see...'

Before Sunny could lose himself deeper in thought, his eyes zoomed in on the large legs and body they were attached to. It had been years since he last saw Garganda, over 1000 to be precise. And the yellow unicorn wondered if the giant dragon would even remember him.

The girls began to chase after the slow moving behemoth, splitting into two groups, with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy heading to his head to try and stop him while the ground based ponies and Twilight followed beside to wait for their chance to speak with Garganda. Sunny got up out of the snow and brushed some of it off, realizing some of the coal dust had brushed off from the armor, but it wouldn't get off of his own fur. He'd have to take a good long bath after this little adventure, his yellow coat was turned black by the annoying coal dust. But then again, it might help to disguise him further.

Now running after the girls, keeping at a decent distance to still remain hidden, Sunny galloped through the snow. His black cloak waved in the Arctic wind thanks to the current storm. Luckily, all the running he was doing was warming the former prince up. It would have been awkward if he arrived and had to intervene while speaking through a pair of chattering teeth.

Eventually Garganda stopped, being the signal for Sunny to stop as well. 'Did they do it that fast? Did they really stop the all mighty Garganda, of the west?'

But before Sunny could call this case to a close, the mighty dragon of legend raised his mighty wings, and with a single beat of them, blew the storm miles and miles off its course, essentially clearing the entire sky. Sunny had to shield his eyes from the cold blow, but when he was able to gaze up at the sight before him once more, all he could think of the mighty dragon was 'show off...'

Now was the time Sunny believed he had to kick back and wait patiently for something, anything to happen. He would then decide to act or not. As Sunny relaxed, his eyes wandered over the snowy scene, and eventually found where Shinning Armor, Cadence and their guards had followed behind Applejack and her friends, ready to jump in, he guessed, if thing went from bad to worse. But the former prince did his best to ignore them, even though, out of the corner of his eye, he thought Princess Cadence looked over and motioned to him. They were at least a mile away, and the Rulers of the Crystal Empire had bigger fish to fry then a pony in black armor.

"Who. Dares. Halt. Gargonda. Of. The. West?" The dragon's voice boomed like thunder and shocked everypony below, even from this distance.

Sunny watched as the giant dragon looked down and picked the girls up with one claw. He knew Garganda may have been possibly the largest dragon in all of Equestria, but Sunny also knew Garganda was for sure the most gentle... when he chose to be. So the yellow unicorn didn't worry about the giant black dragon picking the girls up. Garganda then held the girls out in front of him, listening to what they had to say.

He exhaled from his cave sized nostrils before locking his eyes on the ponies in his claw. "The. Crystal. Empire. Is. Ordered. To. Be. Destroyed. Nothing. Is. to. Remain."

'What?! Who ordered that?! The Dragon Lord?! No, no he wouldn't risk a war with the ponies... would he?' Sunny said as he advanced closer to Garganda, while keeping a good distance from Cadence, Shinning Armor and the Crystal guards they had with them.

"The. Crystal. Empire. Is. To. Be. Destroyed" Gargonda repeated. "If. Not. Darkness. Will. Consume. All. Those. Are. My. Orders. I. Will. Turn. The. Empire. To. Ash."

'Darkness?' Sunny reappeared Garganda's words in his own head as he continued to slowly advance towards the giant dragon, still not sure if he should step in or not. But from the way things are looking, negotiations aren't going well.

"Then. So. Be. It." Gargonda huffed, as he looked into the claw the girls were in, appearing unmoved by whatever Applejack and her friends were saying.

'This really, really isn't looking good' Sunny said to himself as he kicked up his pace.

"None. Can. Change. My. Order." Garganda continued to say. "The. Empire. Falls. Today."

Ok, that did it. Sunny wasn't going to let it go any further. He trusted Applejack and her friends to save Equestria, and had read how they have done so in the past. But this was the Crystal Empire where Sunny had grown up, where he served in the Royal guard, the place he failed to protect in the past... the least he could do was save them this time around.

"GARGANDA!!!" Sunny screamed with all his might, as loud as he could not knowing weather or not the giant could hear him. As luck would have it, the mountain sized dragon did, turning and looking down at Sunny in surprise.

Garganda then stretched out his free claw and swooped up the one who called out to him. After raising the captive in his left claw up to his face, Garganda opened his claw and was surprised by the contents it held inside. "It. Has. Been. Over. 1000. Years. Since. I. Last. Saw. You..."

After being free from Garganda's grasp, Sunny ignored the group of ponies, which included Applejack and Twilight, off to his left and focused his attention on the dragon threatening to destroy his old home.

"Welcome. Back. Black. Knight. Of. The. Crystal. Empire..." Garganda created his old friend, confusing all the ponies and baby dragon in his right claw.